Despite the fact that they often fall into the average length range, and that their partners are completely satisfied, many men are anxious about penis size. This turns men into easy prey for product manufacturers looking to make a buck off people’s deep-seated fears. The promise of a bigger penis can convince a worried man to go to considerable lengths (pun intended), but, all-too-often, that promise is a lie. In order to maintain proper penis health, it’s important for men to know the risks associated with common male enhancement methods, as well as the speciousness of the claims about their effectiveness.

Pumps

The penis pump has an established medical use; it can help men with erectile dysfunction achieve erections long enough to have sex. The pump uses vacuum suction to draw blood into the penis, and a constriction device (such as a band or ring) is placed around the base of the organ to keep the blood from draining out.

The idea that penis pumps can add length to the member is likely erroneous, at least for healthy men. Those with Peyronie’s disease - caused by scar tissue buildup that shortens the penis, usually as a man gets older - may stand to gain up to 0.2 inches with the use of a pump, according to a small study conducted by London’s Institute of Urology and the Department of Urology at St Peter's Hospital. But the impact of pumps on men with stretched penis lengths of less than 3.9 inches, not necessarily associated with Peyronie’s disease, was also studied by another group of researchers. This study concluded that six months of pump use led to no significant length gains.

Aside from very unlikely effectiveness in terms of length gains for most men, the use of a penis pump comes with risks (most involving use to achieve erection), including:

- Little red dots from under-the-skin bleeding

- Pain/bruising from the constriction device

- Feeling that semen is trapped

- Painful emission

- Numbness/coldness of the organ

- A soft base of the penis that creates penis pivoting and rotation during intercourse

The idea of strapping a weight to a penis and carrying it around may be horrifying, and for good reason. Still, some men go to this extreme measure in hopes of a longer member. It is possible that penis weights can in fact add length to the member over time by stretching out the flaccid organ so that it can receive more blood flow during an erection. However, the weight needs to be worn for most of the waking day, every day, for half a year or more.

That’s not to mention the risks involved. These include:

- Torn tissues

- Reduced thickness

- Burst blood vessels

- Restricted blood flow

- Tissue death

- Nerve damage

- Amputation

Penis weights are not well studied, so their effectiveness, the extent of the risks involved and the amount of weight that is safe to use (if any) are not known. Given the severity of some of those risks, men may wish to choose what they’ve already got to work with over penis weights.

Jelquing

This supposed male enhancement technique involves using the hands to pull more blood into the penis. To complete the jelquing motion, a man lubes up his hand, forms a ring with his thumb and pointer finger and strokes up from the base of the shaft to the head of the penis while squeezing lightly; once one hand reaches the head, the other starts again at the base, and so on.

There is no evidence that jelquing works to lengthen the penis. However, it’s relatively safe, and men may find this a pleasurable method of masturbation. However, men should be cautious about how tightly they squeeze the member. If done improperly, jelquing could lead to:

- Torn blood vessels

- Scar tissue formation

- Loss of sensitivity

Love What One’s Got

Perhaps the best way to deal with anxiety about the penis is to shift one’s focus from what he can’t control to what he can. Men can show their members some extra love with the use of a penis health cream(health professionals recommend Man1 Man Oil). The best creams contain antioxidants to combat oxidative damage to cells and nutrients like vitamin C for blood flow support. Rather than focusing on size, focus on quality.